Receiver for hearing aids



April 17, 1951 s, NELSON 2,549,629

7 RECEIVER FOR HEARING AIDS Filed Jan; 12, 1950 Patented Apr. 17, 1951 UNITED STATES- PATENT IOUFFICE r V AIDS I V I v ,to, The Maico Company, Incorporated, Minne-' apolis, Minn, a corporation of Minnesota I a licatio January 1 2 1950, s ri ls-(1-138413.

My invention relates generally to hearing aids Glairns. (01. 179-407)" and, more particularly, to hearingaid receiver i construction.

The primary object of my invention is the pro vision of a receiver for hearing aids, which may be secured to the lobe of ausers ear and which may be readily inserted into and removed from a decorative casing or shell, whereby a plurality of such shells, having different ornamental designs or of difierent materials, may be intera plurality of axially-extended circumferentiallyspaced recesses and a segmental band secured within said casing, said band carryinga plu-,

rality" of gripping fingers positioned within said recesses and frictionally engageable with the peripheral wall of a receiver in said casing.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a gripping finger-equipped band within a hearing aid casing as set forth, which will not interfere with the electrical conduit and connections thereof to'said receiver.

Other highly important objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following detailed specification, appended claims, and attached drawings.

Referring to the drawings, wherein likecharacte rs indicate like parts throughout the several viewsz" Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of a hearing aid'receiver casing produced in accordance with my invention; a Fig; 2 is a view in side elevation, some parts broken away and some parts shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation. of'the cup-like casing or shell of my invention;

Fig. '4 is a fragmentary view, partly in side elevation and partly in section, taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1; and

g 5 is an enlarged per p ctiv f airic iona locking, device for the hearing aid receiver of my invention,

An electronic hearing aid receiver is more or and is indicated in its entiretyby the numeral The receiver l is generally circular in cross-section and is provided with anyaXiallyextended.

tubular stud 2 to which is connected a flexible. sound-transfer tube. 3 which terminates in, arelatively rigid ear insert 4. The insert 4 is adapted to fit within the outer ear of the user and conducts impulses from the receiver l to the interior of the ear-.' The "receiver l is adapted to be connected to a conventional electronic hearing aid transmitter unit, not shown but worn elsewhere on the users person, by an electrical conduit 5 which is connected to the receiver l by a plug connector 6.

A spring clip lof the type usually found in ear rings and the like comprises a generally U- shaped member 8, having one leg thereof rigidly secured to the receiver I, and an inverted 'U- shaped clamp element 9. One end of the clamp element 9 is connected to the free end of the 'U shaped member 8 by a hinge joint I0, the other end terminating in an ear lobe-engaging pad ll.

or casing I2. The casing I2 may be made from y 7 any suitable material and is preferably formed with ornamental configurations on its exterior to resemble a conventional ear ornament. The casing i2 is of a size to slidably receive and contain the hearing aid receiver I and is provided with a central well l3 for the reception of the plug connector 6. The casing I2 is further radially outwardly bulged, as indicated at M, to form a passage l5 communicating with the interior of the we1ll3 and through'which the, electrical conduit or cord 5 extends outwardly and I downwardly to the transmitter, not shown.

Heretofore, difi'iculty has been'experienced in providing an ornamental casing l which will bejwa: complimentary in appearance to a wide variety of colors and styles in dress. To overcome this difficulty, I provide casings l2 in a variety of colors and made from difierent materials, such as, metals, synthetic resins and the like. To effect ir1-- terchangeability of the difierent casings-l2, and to compensate for wear by application of the casings l2 to the receiver I and removal therefrom, I utilize a plurality of resilient gripping fingers l6 integrally formed with a segmental band II' securely mounted in each of the sevr 3 eral casings. As shown, the casing I is formed with circumferentially-spaced axially extended internal recesses or channels 18 and an internal shoulder 19. The recesses !8 open inwardly of the inner side wall of the casing i and axially outwardly thereof. The segmental shoulder l9 adjoins the well is and terminates at opposite sides of the passage l5, the band ll being rigidly secured thereto by soldering or the like in the case of a metallic casing, or by other suitable means when used with a casing made from synthetic resins or other non-metallic material. The band i! is positioned on the shoulder is so that one each of the resilient fingers It lie in one of the recesses I3. It will be noted that the recesses l8 are deeper than the thickness of the gripping fingers l6 and that the inner surfaces of the gripping fingers are normally flush with the inner side wall 20. The free ends of the gripping fingers [6 are curved inwardly, as indicated at 25, s

so as to hook over the outer side edge of the receiver I, when it is placed within the casing l2, and prevent accidental removal thereof. As shown in Fig. 3, the curved hook-like ends 2i of the gripping fingers normally lie radially inwardly of the inner wall 28, and the recesses 18 are of a depth to permit flexing or spreading of the fingers l6 sufliciently to allow passage therebetween of the receiver. As indicated in Fig. 4, the corner edge portions of the receiver are rounded, the radii being substantially that of the curved ends 2| so that a camming action is imparted to the ends 2! by the receiver 5, when the same is inserted into the casing IE or removed therefrom to spread the fingers it. The yielding bias of the fingers It in the direction of the receiver I is sufiicient to securely frictionally lock the receiver i in place against accidental removal.

It should be further noted that the casings I are provided in pairs, one to be used for each ear of the wearer for the sake of appearance, it being necessary-to utilize only a single receiver I. A dummy receiver, not shown, is provided for the ear not using the receiver l, the dummy receiver comprising a receiver shell having thereon an ear clip similar to the clip 7, but with the mechanism therein, the connector plug, conduit therefor, and the ear fitting eliminated.

From the above, it will be seen that a hearing aid construction made in accordance with my invention is adapted to any desired ornamental design, the shells or casings being interchangeable with respect to the hearing aid receiver, removal of one casing and application of another to the receiver being accomplished with a minimum of time and efiort.

My invention has been thoroughly tested and found to be completely satisfactory for the accomplishment of the objectives set forth; and while I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of my novel device, it will be understood that the same is capable of modification without departure from the spirit and scope of the inven-- tion, as defined in the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, a cuplike casing having a radially inwardly-opening channel in its inner side wall, said channel extending axially inwardly from the open end of said casing, an axially-extended resilient finger secured to said casing, said finger being retractable into said channel and being curved at its free end to provide a radially inwardly-opening hook, said finger being biased to project the hook! acting free end thereof radially inwardly of said inner side wall, a circular hearing aid receiver axially slidably receivable within said casing, said receiver having a side wall portion which corresponds approximately in axial length and in general shape to said finger and which is adapted to cooperate with said finger to retain said receiver within said casing against accidental dis erally-outwardly of the well, an arcuate band secured to said shoulder, a plurality of resilient fingers secured to said band in circumferentiallyspaced relationship and extending axially of the casing adjacent the side wall thereof, said fingers having a thickness less than said channels and one each thereof being radially retractable into one of said channels, radially inwardly-extending hook-acting elements on the free ends of said fingers, said fingers extending substantially to the open end of said casing and being biased in a direction to project the free ends radially inwardly of the inner side wall, and a receiver in said casing, the inner face of said receiver resting upon said band, said receiver havin an axial length corresponding generally to the length of said fingers and being slidably rounded at its outer edge to conform generally to the shape of the inturned ends of the fingers.

3. The structure defined in claim 2 in which said fingers are formed integrally with said band.

4. In a device of the class described, a generally circular cup-like casing having a plurality of circumferentially-spaced axially-extended radially inwardly-opening channels in its inner side wall, said casing being provided with a reduced central well in its base and a radially outwardlyprojected recess communicating with said well and located between adjacent ones of said channels, the side wall of the casing having a bulged portion between two adjacent channels which defines an enlarged passage extending radially and axially from said well, a shoulder in said casing radially outwardly of said well, a segmental band element overlying said shoulder and secured thereto, a plurality of resilient fingers extending axially outwardly of said band in circumferentially-spaced relationship, said fingers having a thickness less than the depth of said channels and being radially retractable one each into one of said channels, said segmental band element terminating on opposite sides of said passage, said fingers extending substantially to the open end of said casing and curving generally radially inwardly at their free ends, said fingers being biased in a direction to project said edge to conform generally to the shape of the.

inturned'ends of said fingers, and an electrical conduit in said passage, said conduit terminating in a connector element coupled to said receiver Within said well.

5. The structure defined in claim 4 in further combination with a clamping element for securing said receiver to the lobe of a users ear, and a flexible sound-transfer tube extending axially outwardly from said receiver at a point dia- 5 metrically opposite said passage,v saidv soundtransfer tube terminating at its free ends in a relatively rigid ear insert FRANKLIN SFNELSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

